Suchergebnisse

Sustainable development is among the foremost ideas that guide societal aspirations around the world. This text interrogates the concept through a critical lens, examining both its history and the trajectory of its manifestations in the Brazilian Amazon.

AbstractThis paper offers a historical examination of the ways in which advocacy strategies and tactics have shifted in relation to political opportunities, using a case study of a hydroelectric dam project in the Brazilian Amazon, known as the Belo Monte Dam. Drawing on over three decades of resistance by transnational activist coalitions, the paper looks at how new tactics and political alignments have altered the dynamics of activism and norm diffusion in Brazilian domestic environmental, human rights and development policies. The paper argues that current theories of norm diffusion inadequately explain backslides and tend to underestimate the complexity of domestic political alignments. The case adds political insight to our understanding of the relationship of transnational advocacy strategy to environmental and human rights political realities in Brazil.

The term 'urban beekeeping' connotes a host of meanings—sociopolitical, commercial, ecological and personal—beyond the mere description of where bees and beekeepers happen to coincide. Yet, these meanings are seldom articulated explicitly or brought into critical engagement with the relevant fields of urban ecology and political ecology. Beginning with a brief account of the history of urban beekeeping in the United States, we draw upon urban ecological theory to construct a conceptual model of urban beekeeping that distinguishes beekeeping in, of and for the city. In our model, beekeeping in the city describes the mere importation of the traditionally rural practice of beekeeping into urban spaces for the private reasons of the individual beekeeper, whereas beekeeping of the city describes beekeeping that is consciously tailored to the urban context, often accompanied by (semi)professionalization of beekeepers and the formation of local expert communities (i.e. beekeeping associations). Beekeeping for the city describes a shift in mindset in which beekeeping is directed to civic ends beyond the boundaries of the beekeeping community per se. Using this framework, we identify and discuss specific socioecological assets and liabilities of urban beekeeping, and how these relate to beekeeping in, of and for the city. We then formulate actionable guidelines for maturing the practice of urban beekeeping into a beneficent and self‐critical form of urban ecological citizenship; these include fostering self‐regulation within the beekeeping community, harnessing beekeeping as a 'gateway' experience for a broader rapprochement between urban residents and nature, and recognizing the political‐ecological context of beekeeping with respect to matters of socioecological justice.